When Exercise is a Waste of Your Time

There are times when that thing you’re doing at the gym is a waste of your time.

And if you were unknowingly wasting your hard-earned time at the gym, you’d want your best friend to tell you, wouldn’t you?

So, I dedicate this article to my sisterly love for you and your skinny jeans. Here, I present my top 3 truths on exercise:

Truth #1: You’re wasting your time on the treadmill

If you think you’re jogging your way to a leaner, meaner body, think again. Extensive cardio is one of the least desirable methods to burn fat.

Now, if you’re a weekend cardio-bunny, or you do the occasional run, cycle, dance class or walk around the park, I’m not talking to you. I’m talking to the 10K+ troopers, the super-duper-spin cyclists, the run-on-the-treadmill-everyday-for-an-hour-or-more-marathon martyrs.

If you’d like to read a well-written article on the matter, with references and footnotes and all that official stuff, you can find it here.

But if you want to get the Coles notes version, here is what you want to know:

Extensive cardio trains the body to store, not burn, fat as a protective back-up source of fuel.

It breaks down precious muscle. You’ll lose the tone and shape of your body, and decrease your base metabolism, which could set you up for rapid fat gain later.

So, what should you do? If you are a die-hard cardio buff, try switching to high-intensity interval instead of steady-state cardio. Or else go lift some weights… which brings me to my next ground-breaking truth:

Truth #2: If you’re not aiming to get stronger, you’re in maintenance mode, not fat-burning mode

If you squeal with delight every time you look at yourself nekkid in the mirror, then just keep doin’ what you’re doin’ and rock on with yo’ bad self.

But if you’re aiming to lose fat, you gotta give your body a reason to change. You need to be constantly striving to get stronger, fitter, faster, better. Otherwise, you’re just going to maintain what you have.

And to prove my point, here is a video of one of my more recent heavy lifts of 135 lbs. That, and I want to show off my new red weightlifting shoes. Aren’t they pretty?

Truth #3: Eating a balanced diet could be sabotaging all your efforts in the gym

HUH?!? Did you read that right! You bet your bottom dollar ya did!

Alright. Eating a balanced diet is healthy and good for you. I will admit that. Ain’t nothin’ wrong with eating balanced.

It’s just not gonna help you lose fat.

Certain foods that we consider healthy, such as fruits, whole-grains, and dairy, can sometimes prevent fat-loss, partly because it can inhibit the regulation of the hormone insulin, which is a critical hormone that controls fat loss.

Many of us have a less-than-optimal insulin function. And the more dysfunctional it is, the stricter we need to be with our diet to get the desired result.

How do we regulate our insulin? Eat plenty of foods that do not spike insulin. In other words, eat lots of vegetables and some animal protein with healthy fats. Cut down (or even eliminate) grains, fruit, and dairy.

If you would like to read more about it, I’d recommend the “Paleo Diet” by Dr. Loren Cordain as a great starter. It’s an easy read and pretty informative, too.

*Disclaimer: there is a small percentage of you that can make teeny, tiny changes to your diet and still get great results. Like, instead of eating two bowls of ice cream every night, you cut down to one. And the fat falls off you like melted butter. And if you’re one of those girls…. well, I think I hate you – and by the way, why the heck do you need to be reading this article, anyway? Sheesh.

But for the rest of us normal gals, we have to make some serious changes to get the results we want.

Well, there you have it. Some new truths to arm yourselves next time you hit the gym.

And if you’ve been guilty of any of the above, that’s okay! Just get off the treadmill, lift some weights and replace your banana smoothie with a steak. And then share in the comments below what difference that’s made for you.

Happy lifting!

In health and high heels,

Mina

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Hey Allison! My biggest advice is: learn as much as you can, then test out the theories for yourself. Keep an open mind, because there is more than one right way to get healthy and fit, so try, try, try, and find out what works best for you.

I’m so glad I found you!! Lol I’ve been on my weightloss journey for about 8 months now and I’m always reading and trying to learn about what’s right and what’s wrong…my bf insists that I should not be lifting heavy weights but I keep trying to tell him that I NEED to lol he thinks I’m going to get huge muscles and look like him lol

Yes, of course Joanna! #2 talks about constantly striving to improve your strength and endurance in order to maximize fat loss. There are many factors to consider, but in essence, most people will not lose fat if you continue to do the same reps, same sets, same rest periods, and same weight day after day. For example, if you can bench press @ 65 lbs for 12 reps with good form, then the next workout, you want to aim for 70 lbs. Or if you can bench press @ 65 lbs for 3 sets, then next workout, aim to do 4 sets with shorter rest periods. The permutations are endless – but the important thing is that you are constantly challenging yourself to improve. Does that make sense?

Great article! I’ve just started a Paleo diet and I think I’m dialled in with my food but I started doing a 30 min walk each morning and now my weight loss has halted :-/ I wonder if I’ going to hard or perhaps I’m just impatient. I am a daily weigher after all but I feel much better and I move better these days. Thanks for posting.. will share this one.

Thank you for your comment, Jane! There are dozens of reasons why your weight loss has slowed down, and the walking may or may not have anything to do with it. I will say, however, that the same thing happened to a client of mine quite recently. On further inspection, I found out that she was getting chronically sleep deprived because she was waking up earlier to fit it in. I told her it was better to get a good night’s sleep than it was to stress herself out by starting a walking routine. She started losing weight again after that. In most cases, though, a simple walking routine would not normally adversely affect a fat-loss program. In fact, I quite like walking as a great stress-reliever. In your case, I would consider some other factors that may be slowing down your fat loss. It sounds like you’ve made some great progress so far. All the best on your journey!

Thanks Mina.. You’ve hit the nail on head there.. that’s exactly what I have recently done, I get up 45 mins earlier to get on the treadmill only to be tired most of the day. I going to switch my walk to after work or during work to see how that goes. Thanks for the tip!